Minister Anton Bredell to approach the court for leave to appeal the interdict order to stop the River Club development

11 April 2022

Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning has approached Court for leave to appeal Deputy Judge President Golliath’s judgment and order in the Western Cape High Court on 18 March 2022 to halt the construction of the River Club development by the Liesbeek Leisure Property Trust in Observatory, a R4.6 bn development project.

The Minister’s decision to appeal follows a thorough consideration of the judgement and the order, as well as the practical implications thereof.  There are a number of errors in the judgment and the order, inter alia, is fraught with misunderstandings about the wide public participation processes undertaken.

Among the errors identified in the judgment were problems such as the court making a ruling on issues which were not argued by the Applicants as part of their case in the first place and the Minister is of the view that the Court failed to undertake the exercise of weighing the balance of convenience, as it should have in an interdict application.

Issued by Wouter Kriel, Spokesperson for Minister Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, 11 April 2022